Is It Time We Lose the Grandpa Sneaker for the Humble Converse?

This morning, before she walked the Chanel haute couture show in Paris, Kaia Gerber was spotted wearing the house’s double-C stamped beanie, a polished gray jacket, cropped leather pants, and a pair of scuffed-up Converse. It isn’t the first time that someone has been caught in the modest, Massachusetts-born sneaker. This past Sunday on the SAG Awards red carpet, actress Millie Bobby Brown donned pristine white Chuck Taylor All Stars with a pert Calvin Klein dress. In Stockholm at the Fall 2018 shows, local label Lazoschmidl also chose Converse for their bad boy–minded collection.

While grandpa sneakers don’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, the choice to wear Chucks is indeed refreshing. The flat, rubber-soled, canvas shoe, originally made for basketball players, has long been the anti-fashion fashion sneaker, beloved by under-the-radar-model types (like Mica Arganaraz or Julia Nobis) and representative of early-’00s off-duty street style—before social media and double taps came into play. (Fun fact: The Strokes wore the shoe constantly.) Another cool factor? The $50 price tag.